A good relationship between Product and Sales goes a long way in building better products. This can make the job of each team easier and make everyone more likely to be happy. It helps you to build products that Sales can sell. How can Product work with the Sales team to be seen by the latter as a partner for success? Here are some ideas to help.
Include Sales in Planning
Effective product planning should ideally involve representatives from different teams in an organization. The sales team is an especially critical one that should be brought in very early in the process.
Make sales to realize how valuable their insights are to building great products. They spend the bulk of their time with customers and can help you understand their needs and pain points better. The team, therefore, needs to be represented in every strategic planning session.
Encourage Sales’ Attendance at Meetings
Seeing how important input from Sales can be to development, do all you can to encourage its members to always be present at meetings. Make reps know that you consider them as key stakeholders.
Sales should be made aware that the user feedback they collect is important to help build better products. You want to hear what customers are complaining about or wish that you can provide. Of course, this will make the work of the sales team easier as well.
Participate in Sales Reviews
Product Managers will do well to take part in account and pipeline reviews. This will allow them to have a better idea of the challenges that Sales is contending with. By being present, a Product Manager may be able to suggest what reps can do to win customers over. They could, for instance, advise Sales to highlight specific product features. Your participation might also let you get insights that you can use to update the product roadmap.
Ask Calculated Questions
Product should use every opportunity it has to talk with Sales to good effects. Ask the team questions that can help you fine-tune the strategic plan for your product. For example, get to know if there is anything you can do differently to please or attract more customers. Has Sales been getting negative feedback in their interactions with users? If yes, what are those complaints?
As stated in an Appcues article, Yelp Product Manager Dejana Bajic would asked the sales team for the top three reasons responsible for failure to close while working at UserVoice. She also sought to know the three most common questions that were asked before or during a free trial.
The key however, is to hear from the Sales Team about the problems they’re seeing, not to simply become an order take for the Sale department. Product is responsible for creating a cohesive product long term, whereas Sales is responsible for closing deals today in their pipeline – if Product simply implements every request that helps to close a deal, the product can quickly become a mess. So, step back from the specific tactical requests and identify the generalizable patterns than can be addressed holistically by your product/platform.
Provide Useful Sales Tools
Part of working effectively with Sales is supporting them with the tools that will help them succeed in understanding and promoting the product. You want to create and share a product one-pager that highlights the key features and data points. Other ways you could assist are:
- Materials that highlight what your product is capable of and/or its USP
- User guides and other documentation relating to the usage of the product
- Case studies
- FAQs
- Pitch decks
Basically, make available everything that will help Sales deal with whatever issues it might encounter properly.
Make Sales Calls
Occasionally, take time out to sit in on sales calls. The team in charge of sales is primarily charged with this duty, but there is a lot to gain when you take the time out to listen to users first-hand. Going on visits with sales won’t have been a bad thing but for other things you need to attend to.
These calls help you understand better what you can do to make the work of your sales reps easier. They make it possible for you to spot subtle customer reactions or opinions about your product.
Respond Quickly
There will be times when Sales approaches Product Management with some concerns seeking for answers. Care should be taken to not delay in addressing these. Delays in getting back to sales reps could prove costly and frustrating in some cases. They can make deals to fall through, for instance, and that’s one quick way to lose favor with a rep.
Make Sales Reason with You
In spite of your best efforts, some sales reps might feel that you are not doing enough to help them – afterall they have deals in flight now that they’re trying to close.
You need to make conscious attempts to help the sales team see the reasons for the actions you take. Let reps know that you are doing all within your power to help them succeed. Help them understand that the other priorities you’re currently working on are aligned longer-term with their goals, even if the short-term tactical requests are not immediately adopted. With that alignment, a productive partnership can follow.
